Winter's Night
by Son of an Anjel
Summary: Sort of follows Sick Day. Kiyo and Megumi dance around the subject again.


Disclaimer: I don't own any characters here. I'm just fooling around with them for fun and to practice my writing.

Rating: K

Summary: Sort of follows Sick Day. Kiyo and Megumi dance around the subject again.

Spoilers: Teeny, tiny ones for the amusement park tag battle. And of course if you haven't seen the first arc with Tia and Megumi.

Author's Notes: This is set sometime between the amusement park tag battle and the Bari story arc.

**Winter's Night**

Kiyo sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he looked up past the starry December sky. From his vantage point on an overlook up on the edge of town, he had a breathtaking view of both the city and the brilliant sky above him.

However, his focus was not on the views presented before him, but on his own feelings. He had long ago figured out the people were easy to misunderstand, but he never thought that he could be confused about himself. Yet, he had to be misinterpreting something, because he couldn't find any reason why he had recently been taken up a habit of fumbling his words whenever he received a compliment from **_her._**

_I mean, sure I like her–she's one of my best friends_. When you're friends with someone you should be comfortable and relaxed around them, no matter their social status. With what he had seen around his school, getting all "flustery and stuttering" around someone usually points to feelings that transcend those of friendship.

Kiyo was unable to come up with an answer that made sense. If his feelings had truly gone beyond those of friendship, when had they started to do so? And what was he going to do about it? Telling her at this point would be a bad idea in more ways than one. He wasn't even sure that his feelings had advanced to that stage, and she might think of him differently if she didn't reciprocate his feelings.

Quite the dilemma he was making of an uncertain topic. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of feet crunching through the snow.

"Kiyo?"

"Hmm?" Kiyo turned at the sound of the voice, and relaxed after seeing who it was.

"I've been looking for you," Megumi said as she approached him. The pop idol leaned against the railing next to Kiyo, gazing out over the city. "So this is where you've been hiding."

"Yeah," Kiyo answered, staring up at the sky. "I like it up here. There's just something about this place that calms me down and helps me think,"

"It's an amazing view. I can see why you like it so much." She paused. "If you don't mind my asking, what were you thinking about."

"Oh. . . umm. . . ." Kiyo stammered out, trying to think up a believable topic. He had no intention whatsoever of letting Megumi know about his shaky feelings. Especially since she was the subject of said feelings. "I was just thinking about how far we've come in the mamodo battle, and how much stronger the opponents will be." He mentally congratulated himself for his quick thinking.

Kiyo's contented state of mind was shaken as he watched Megumi's face harden. "You're right," she said. "The remaining mamodo have to be strong, or else they wouldn't have survived this long." Megumi paused, remembering the battles the she and Tia had been in, as well as the conviction Zatch and Kiyo had shown during their tag team battle with Pudio and Zoboron. She broke into a grin. "But the same holds true for us. Tia's no pushover, and neither is Zatch. No one was expecting either of us to get this far."

Kiyo mentally agreed with her. Zatch had grown from the naive little kid he was when he had first come to live with Kiyo. And while Tia did have her flaws like the rest of them, she had proved to be loyal and protective of those close to her.

"When Zatch first came he was a hyperactive little kid who didn't have a clue about the war for the throne of the Mamodo World, and all the mamodo we faced thought he would be a pushover. Even now he has a little too much energy at times. But he knows why he's here now, and he wants to end the fighting as soon as possible.

Megumi smiled knowingly as she remember her early days with Tia. "Tia was in a similar boat. After Maruss attacked her, she had a hard time trusting anyone. She was even willing to give up her claim to the throne if it meant she didn't have to let people near her."

Kiyo was surprised to hear this revelation about Tia. The fact that she didn't have enough faith even to trust someone with her book was astounding, considering the entire reason behind the mamodo's coming. "I remember that she had a hard time trusting people," he offered. "Zatch had to come get me to so he could help fight off Maruss."

Megumi chuckled at that as she recounted the battle from that night. Once they had thoroughly dissected that battle, they moved on to the next one. Their conversation continued as they reminisced about various mamodo they had faced with their partners, things they had been doing since they last saw each other, and what future battles might hold. As they talked they migrated over to a bench situated beneath the clock tower that stood in the middle of the park.

_**Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong**._

Eleven long strokes tolled into the night from the clock tower, interrupting the conversation being held in its shadow

"Wow, eleven o'clock already? Hard to believe we've been talking that long," Kiyo said, getting up from the bench he and Megumi had moved to during their talk.

Megumi stood up from the bench next to him, stifling a yawn. "I know," she responded.

Kiyo walked her back to her apartment, their shoes crunching through the freshly fallen snow. His mind rewound their conversation, playing back the highlights, until it suddenly caught something.

"Hey, Megumi."

"Yes?"

"You said you were looking for me. Why?" he asked curiously.

Megumi's expression collapsed into a look of confusion. She fell silent, puzzling on his words. It wasn't until they had arrived at her apartment before realization dawned.

"Oh. . . Umm. . . ." she mumbled as she looked down, face red.

Her hand fumbled to her pocket and pulled out an envelope. Megumi thrust it at him before she rushed into her apartment and sealed the door.

"What was that about?" Kiyo wondered as he stared at the door in bewilderment.

On the way back to his house, Kiyo turned the envelope over revealing his name printed on the front. He opened it and found a letter addressed to him.

After reading the letter, he smiled. Even if his feelings had gone beyond those of strictly friendship, things would, in all likeliness, turn out alright. After all, knowing how the other person feels can sometimes elicit newfound courage necessary to reveal one's feelings to said other person.

_Fini  
_

Author's Note: Now that I've eliminated the small problem that my other story has, (Pun not intended) and my editor has dragged both it and me through the grinder, I'm curious to see what people think of my work. Don't ask my why I'm writing December settings in August. I hardly know why myself.


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